Nocturne
by Emiko2
Summary: Ginny is haunted by the memory of Tom Riddle, whose sudden impossible existence begins to plague the lives of everyone around her. Is it only that no one will believe her, or is she going mad? DMxHP, RWxHG, GWxTR I'm thinking about twisting things around!
1. Default Chapter

Nocturne: Chapter 1  
By: Emiko  
  
Disclaimer: Sou-yo! Please, please, don't sue me. Emiko's only having a bit of fun with Rowling-sama's characters... And stuff... Also, please don't mind a bit of OOC on Riddle and Malfoy's parts. I've done my best, and all that *really* stands out will be explained in due time. ^.^;;  
  
Pairings: Draco x Harry, Ron x Hermione, Tom Riddle x Ginny. Yes, people. This ficcie is *slashed.* BEWARE, people!! ^.~  
  
~~~  
  
"Ginny..." A softly pleading voice drifted through the darkness, sending a chill up the spine of a girl dressed only in a nightgown. "...Why have you abandoned me?"  
  
The girl gasped, her red hair whirling about her face while she spun around, searching for the voice's owner. It was obvious that she recognized the voice. It had haunted her nightmares for years. This dream, however, was different. "Where are you?" she asked.  
  
"Ginny... You abandoned me, you left me to die..."  
  
"Tom?!" Ginny cried.  
  
A vague silhouette of a young man appeared out of the shadowy trees in Ginny's dream world. "You killed me, Ginny..." The outline of Tom Riddle's figure became clearer as the seconds passed, and Ginny felt herself growing faint.  
  
"No, i-it was you..." Ginny gathered up her courage. "Y-you tried to kill *me!*" She took a shaky step backwards, but her energy was leaving her, and Riddle appeared next to her in an instant.  
  
"It was Harry Potter," he said, his normally-handsome face deathly pale and partly covered by his black hair. "Harry Potter killed me, and you could've saved me..." He wrapped his arms around her waist.  
  
"No... That's not what happened... I remember." She vaguely remembered that this was a dream, and that she was asleep, but she was feeling so sleepy right now, she wondered why...  
  
"It was Potter," he said, his form becoming ever clearer. Ginny could now see the shine of his hair and the folds of his robes in the cloud-covered moonlight. "Why didn't you..."  
  
Ginny's knees gave out, but Tom held her up. "No... You almost killed me..." She squeezed her eyes shut and made a weak attempt to escape her tormentor's grasp. "Y-you'll do it again..."  
  
"But I didn't, Ginny," he murmured, pulling her closer. "I won't kill you. It was Potter... He left you for such a long time." Ginny's eyes fluttered shut, her strength finally leaving her. "He doesn't care about you..."  
  
Tom leaned in to kiss her, and she woke up.  
  
~~~  
  
Setting loose a shrill cry that could've woke half the Gryffindors, Ginny leapt out of her bed, waking and realizing what happened only once her feet hit the cold floor. She clamped her hand over her mouth and slipped back into her bed as discreetly as one could with six or seven other fifth years (AN: Yes, Ginny's a fifth year in this, which makes just about everyone else sixth years.) casting worried stares at you. More than one compassionate girl ran to her bedside and made absolutely sure she was all right before returning to their own beds.  
  
Ginny lay in her bed with her eyes wide open and no prospect of sleep. She'd had nightmares of Tom Riddle before, but they were never like the one she just woke up from. They were usually full of gigantic snakes, phantoms, and fiery flashes of eerie light emanating from Tom Riddles ghostly form. They always ended with the light swirling around Ginny and making her fall for what seemed like eternity before she woke up. This dream was just... spooky.  
  
And what did Tom want with Harry, anyway? He'd done away with Tom a long time ago, when he slammed a basilisk's fang into his old diary. How could he possibly come back for them, and why would he say those horrible things about him? After all, Harry saved Ginny's life in the Chamber of Secrets! How could he *not* care about her, even a little? If anything Ginny's feelings had only grown over time, she told herself, and she was determined not to let such a dream rattle her, but she'd never been able to tell him how she felt... Despite all the times Fred and George told her not to be so obvious.  
  
Maybe... she should tell Harry about the dream. No, that was a bad idea. It was only another nightmare, and therefore nothing to worry about.  
  
Ginny turned over and tried miserably to get back to sleep.  
  
~~~  
  
  
Ginny didn't seem her usual blushing self at breakfast, Hermione noticed. She was a little pale and drawn, with bags under her eyes. She usually busied herself with staring at Harry while making a mess of her breakfast, but instead she concentrated at her barely-picked-at food. Hermione decided to affirm her suspicions by leaning over her book and a mountain of biscuits to feel the younger girl's forehead. "Are you ill, Ginny?" she asked.  
  
Ron and Harry glanced over at the pale redhead. "You don't look so good," Ron said. "Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey." Harry nodded in agreement and made the mountain of biscuits one biscuit smaller before Oliver Wood dragged him off by surprise to a last-minute Quidditch practice before a game against Ravenclaw.  
  
Ron got up to drag Ginny off to the sic ward himself, but she jumped out of her seat quickly ad said, "I've forgotten somethi-a book in the dormitory; I have to go get it," and hurried off.  
  
Hermione blinked. "Well, that was odd," she said. Then she went back to what she was reading.  
  
After a few minutes, she slammed her book shut and glared at Ron, who had been hovering (not literally) over her shoulder. "Just curious," he muttered, and went back to his seat.  
  
"What do you think is wrong with Ginny?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"She's acting very strange, Ron. I overheard a fifth year say that she woke everyone up last night screaming from a nightmare."  
  
Ron's eyes widened for a split second, and she could tell he was remembering the ordeal his sister went through four years ago. He looked worried, but brushed it off quickly enough. "She's probably just got a bit of a cold, is all; can't say for the nightmare," and tried finishing off his meal with no appetite.  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny slammed the door shut in the girls' dormitory, having no intention of retrieving anything from her room other than a chance to get away from everyone, and a few seconds of peace and quiet. She leaned against the door for a few moments in silence, until a loud rustling of feathers was hear coming from the boys' dormitory. Normally, she wouldn't have gone to look, but in her current state of mind, she suddenly felt compelled to see what was making all the racket.  
  
It turned out to only be Hedwig, flying in with a letter for Harry. She'd already dropped the pale green envelope on his bed, and hopped back onto the window to wait for Harry's return. The owl eyed Ginny suspiciously for a moment, then ruffled her feathers indignantly and went to her food dish.  
  
Ginny looked at the envelope. It didn't have a return address; in fact the only thing written on it was "HARRY POTTER" in tiny, flowing script. She was *very* tempted to open it, even though it was certainly none of her business. She stared for a good three seconds longer before finally going against reason -not to mention common courtesy- and opened it, which, she noticed, had a Slytherin seal on the back.  
  
"Potter,  
I'll go on with this annoying 'secrecy' thing as long as I see fit, thank you. Don't even think about threatening to pounce on me straight out of Potions, *in front of everyone.* I don't like having to meet you in secret all the time, and I don't care if you just think I'm being a 'typical dramatic Slytherin,' but we just can't let anyone know just yet. Bear with me.  
Anyway, I'll be waiting for you impatiently tonight, but not in the usual place. I'll be in the library, so make sure you hurry up. And you don't need to come 'pick me up,' for God's sake. I can get past Filtch and his damned cat well enough *without* an Invisibility Cloak.  
D."  
  
Ginny silently slipped the matching pale-green stationary back into its envelope, re-sealed it with a flick of her wand, and slid to the floor. Harry had a secret girlfriend.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry rushed into his room with a loud clattering of his broomstick on the floor, which he'd brought along in his rush. He'd forgotten his pads for Quidditch. He shut the door and spotted Ginny kneeling on the floor, holding the letter.  
  
He took no notice of the distressed look on her face, but started up to her and snatched up his letter. He appeared distressed enough, himself. "Did you read it?" he demanded.  
  
Ginny was taken aback by his tone for a moment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have--"  
  
"It's *my* letter, Ginny! You don't just go around reading other people's mail! It's none of your business!" He opened it and scanned its contents, then went back to glaring at her. "Did you read it?"  
  
"I..." she faltered.  
  
"Don't you *ever* go into my things again!" he hissed, looking frantic. "If anyone found out...!"  
  
"I-I won't tell anyone," she said quietly.  
  
Harry looked as if all his energy had been spent on the past two minutes. "Good," he said. "Just don't go through my things again."  
  
Ginny nodded absentmindedly, and Harry grabbed his Quidditch pads and walked out. Then she started crying.  
  
~~~  
  
The Quidditch match was unbearably close, but Gryffindor won the game in the end. Wood made sure to reprimand the rest of his team and handed them all two extra practices next week. They all headed back to Gryffindor Tower in low spirits due to the promise of so much extra training to be done.  
  
Nevertheless, Harry and the rest of the team were greeted warmly as they reached the common room. Harry ignored the "good work's" and hearty pats on the back and headed straight for the showers, shoving past Ron and Hermione with a quick apology before running off.  
  
Ron gaped after him.  
  
"How rude," Hermione said. "Unusual."  
  
"that makes two so far," Ron said. "Ginny didn't bother to tackle Harry after the game today. It was weird. Maybe they're *both* sick."  
  
Hermione brought her fist to her lips in deep thought and headed for the girls' dormitories. "I don't think so," she said. "I'm going to talk to Ginny."  
  
"*I'm* her brother! I should be the one to-"  
  
"Ron," she interrupted, trying to look endearing. "This is something that only another girl can understand."  
  
"How would *you* know?!" he demanded.  
  
Hermione shrugged. "I just do," she said, and left Ron pouting and frustrated.  
  
~~~  
  
Hermione gave the door two quick raps and entered. Ginny was sitting on her bed with a quill and some sort of journal in her lap. She jumped three feet in the air and slammed her book shut when she saw her. Hermione flashed the flustered fifth year (yay, alliteration!) an inquiring look, then sat next to her on the bed.  
  
"Hello, Ginny," she said.  
  
"H-hello," she replied.  
  
"What are you doing?" Hermione gestured to the little book on Ginny's lap.  
  
"Writing."  
  
"Oh." She ignored Ginny's avoiding her previous question, and continued. "Just curious. Are you all right, Ginny?"  
  
Ginny focused on her book's cover and shrugged.  
  
"Whatever it is, does it have to Harry?" Ginny's eyes went as big as dinner plates when the words came out of Hermione' mouth. "He's been acting strangely today, too," Hermione explained quickly.  
  
"Oh... No, I wouldn't know about that." Ginny shrugged again when she said it.  
  
Hermione sighed, exasperated. "Well, don't tell anyone, but... I know how it is to... like someone who's too thick to realize it," She blushed quite a bit when she said it. "So... If you should ever want to talk..."  
  
"I'm fine," Ginny said. "You shouldn't have to worry about me."  
  
Hermione nodded and smiled at her. Ginny smiled back. "Well!" she said, hopping back to her feet. "I still have a bit of reading to do before class tomorrow. Good night."  
  
"Good night."  
  
Hermione opened the door... And Ron fell through it. She grabbed him and pulled him out of the room before Ginny spotted them.  
  
"What are you *doing?*" She hissed once safely back in the hallway.  
  
Ron ignored her death glare. "Blimey, *everyone's* acting weird today. You're offering advice to my sister?"  
  
Hermione did her best to hold back her temper. "Wha--?! Why were you eavesdropping on us? This is the girl's dorm, you know. If you-"  
  
"Oh, I was only curious," Ron brushed it off and asked, "So, who's the person you like?"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and started fro her room. "I'm not telling."  
  
"Oh, come *on*..."  
  
"No, Ron. I'll never tell you." she sounded determined.  
  
"What do I have to do to *get* you to tell me?" Ron followed her closely, step for step.  
  
Hermione spun abruptly and looked at him for a long time. Ron stared back, not sure of what she was doing. Then, she whirled around again called him a stupid twit, and slammed the door in his face.  
  
Ron went sulking back to his room.  
  
~~~  
  
"You've abandoned me..."  
  
She was back in the dream world. A chill breeze swept through Ginny's hair, and he appeared again in front of her. "Tom."  
  
"I told you," he said. "He doesn't care about you." Tom reached out and brushed her cheek. His hand was as cold as the wind blowing around them. "He's in love with someone else."  
  
Ginny began to sense her strength leaving her again. She started shaking, a mixture of fear and defiance. "What do you want from me!" she cried.  
  
"Just you," he said soothingly, cupping her face, making her look at him. "Just you. I'll have Potter soon enough." His voice lowered to a whisper. "It's been Potter who's made you suffer all this time. I can make it all go away, Ginny."  
  
She tried not to appear too frightened, taking into consideration just *who* she was talking to. "No," she said.  
  
"Don't abandon me again, Ginny."  
  
Her life was leaving her more quickly now, and she nearly fell to the ground, too weak to stand. "No, no... You'll hurt me again..."  
  
"I'll make it so you'll never be hurt again," he said. He knelt beside her and pulled her close. "Ginny, I can stop it all."  
  
Ginny was babbling now. "No... I don't..." Now, top was the only thing holding her up. "Please, no... Make it stop..."  
  
Tom kissed her forehead, and Ginny jumped with a sudden, surprising burst of energy. "I have you now, Ginny. I'll end your pain."  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny awoke with only a small gasp this time, still feeling the touch of Tom Riddle's cold fingers. She brought her hand to her forehead, more unsure of this dream than her last one.  
  
Once again unable to sleep, she decided to make her way to the common room to sit by the fire for a spell. (Ha, ha. Pun *SO* intended.) She sat in a chair very near to the hearth for exactly ten seconds before remembering the letter she read. Harry was meeting his secret girlfriend at the library at that very moment.  
  
Ginny sped out the room on a late errand.  
  
~~~  
  
The library was too large to find anyone -let alone spy on them- without a great deal of trouble. Someone, however, had some candles lit in a far-off corner, giving away their position. Ginny crept up to the opposite side of the furthermost bookcase, and quietly unshelved a few select volumes blocking her view.  
  
Harry stood leaning against the wall, partially entangled in the arms of a blonde who was mostly blocked from view. They were engaged in what was obviously a very, very long kiss. Harry broke away suddenly and started talking as if the kiss and never interrupted him. "You still ought to tell your father," he said.  
  
The blonde laughed. Ginny stifled a gasp; it was a *boy's* laugh! Harry's secret girlfriend was a *boy!* "Oh, sure, Potter- 'Oh, Father, I'm in love with the boy you've sworn to cut into little pieces and serve to the Dark Lord in a stew.'"  
  
"Did he really say he'd do that?"  
  
"Actually, Potter, he said he'd bind you up and have you burned like they did at those witch-trial things a few hundred years back."  
  
Harry made a surprised little noise and buried his face in the other boy's neck. "Don't call me Potter," he said, his voice muffled.  
  
"Don't call me Malfoy," the boy replied.  
  
This time, Ginny let her gasp slip a little, but neither of the lovers seemed to notice. Harry with a boy was surprising enough, but Harry with *Malfoy?!* No wonder they wanted to keep it a secret! No wonder why she couldn't recognize Malfoy, either; he looked rather girlish without his hair slicked back.  
  
Harry seemed to have no complaints about Draco's hair. He kept playing with it. "Then what are we going to do?" he asked after a long time, running the fine blonde strands through his fingers. Ginny unconsciously started fussing with her slightly tangled fireball of hair.  
  
"Harry, don't act like you don't have nothing to lose, either," Malfoy said. "All your friends hate me. They'd much rather see me knocked off my broomstick in the middle of a Quidditch match than see me together with you."  
  
Harry sighed and kissed Malfoy's jaw line. "I just don't like being so secretive." Malfoy smirked and kissed him back. Then it was Harry's turn to smirk. "You prat."  
  
"You're one, too."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." They kind of cuddled there for a minute. Then Harry started again. "People will find out sooner or later, Draco."  
  
Malfoy took a step back in surprise (not that it was much difference, considering how close they were before. *Now* they can breathe! ^.~ -A.N.) "What do you mean?"  
  
Harry looked uncomfortable. "Someone read the letter you sent me this morning."  
  
The Slytherin's jaw dropped. "Who?" he demanded, but Harry seemed to just then realize his mistake.  
  
"Eh..."  
  
"Harry."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Who read my letter?" Malfoy seemed to be saying this through gritted teeth.  
  
Harry looked down. "Ginny."  
  
"*Weasley?*"  
  
He only nodded at first, but then burst forth into rushed, defensive babbling. "But don't worry, I talked to her and she said she wouldn't tell anyone and she's good enough at keeping a secret so don't confront her about it because she doesn't even know who you are, she only knows that I'm meeting someone tonight."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you, Potter, that she might've *followed* us here?"  
  
Ginny's eyes widened, and immediately she started tiptoeing backward out the library. She dove underneath a nearby desk just moments before Draco spun around the corner. Harry followed, treading softly. "She's not here, Draco," he said. "I checked on her before I left. She was asleep."  
  
"I heard something."  
  
A cat's mewing was heard in the distance. All three pairs of eyes widened in fear, but Ginny remained silent as both boys whispered desperately, "Mrs. Norris!" Harry dove for his Invisibility Cloak, followed closely by Malfoy. They disappeared from sight, as did the lights a split-second later. Ginny was left stuck between a rock and a hard place- if she stayed put, Filtch's cat would oust her, but if she got up to run, Harry and Draco could very well see her.  
  
She stayed put. The meowing grew louder, and the thumping of old boots sounded in the background. For what seemed like forever, the only sounds were Ginny's own breathing and the noises of Filtch and his cat encroaching upon her.  
  
"What did you hear, love?" Filtch murmured. Ginny kept herself from snickering. The janitor hat pet-names for his pet!  
  
She could see the mangy-furred tabby eyeing her from underneath the table. Mrs. Norris meowed again and darted toward her. Completely forgetting about whether or not the boys could see her, she crawled as quickly -and quietly- as she could to hide behind the card catalog, where Filtch couldn't discover her. The cat bypassed her and went for where Harry and Draco were a moment ago. Ginny sighed for relief as Filtch followed Mrs. Norris around the corner and out of sight. She dashed out of the library as fast as she could and locked herself in her room.  
  
Ginny leaned against the door, panting, and tried to make sense of what she just saw. Harry Potter, in the arms of his biggest rival, the one whom she thought he hated the most: Draco Malfoy. How could it have possibly happened? (A.N.: Whoo-hoo! Side story possibility! //dances//) It seemed impossible for them to be together... Especially like *that.* Thinking about the two of them kissing like that made Ginny's cheeks match her hair. She slid down the side of the door, not even thinking about going to bed anymore. She wouldn't be able to sleep, anyway.  
  
"Ginny..."  
  
Ginny gasped. "What the...?"  
  
"Ginny..."  
  
She looked about stupidly before realizing that the voice wasn't in the room. It' was a boy's voice, after all. Tom Riddle's.  
  
A shimmer appeared next to her, the vaguest form of a person. "Ginny," he said.  
  
Ginny's heart pounded. Surely she was dreaming? "Tom, why-"  
  
"Shh. Don't worry. You're not dreaming." The shimmering form grew slightly more opaque, more in the shape of Tom's body. "You're *not* dreaming, Ginny."  
  
If her heart was racing a moment ago, it was going a mile a minute now. "Y-you're real?" she whispered.  
  
"Yes, in a sense. Still a memory, but real."  
  
She made a small whimpering sound and scooted a few inches away before reaching the corner. "You-you've come for me, haven't you?"  
  
The ghostly form knelt close to her. "No," he murmured. "Not in the way you think I have." Ginny couldn't seem to find her voice, so he continued. "I want you all for me... I won't let you give your heart to anyone else."  
  
Ginny stared. "I don't understand."  
  
Tom reached his cold hands for her shaking ones and said, "You will soon enough." Despite his blurred and faded shape, he still *felt* real enough. And cold.  
  
Tom kissed her hand, and she screamed.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ginny!"  
  
Hermione burst into the fifth years' room, ignoring the looks she was given by some of them. She found her cowering in the corner nearest to the door, curled up and sobbing. She knelt next to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Ginny jumped and gave a little yelp in fear of the unexpected contact -making Hermione jump as well- but as soon as she realized who it was, she cried even harder. "Oh, *Hermione!*" she sobbed, and flung her arms around her waist.  
  
Hermione was a little surprised at her reaction, but she relaxed immediately and patted her back. "Shh, it's all right," she said, precisely as one who doesn't understand what's going on would do.  
  
"It's not, it's not," she said into the older girl's nightgown, and cried harder.  
  
"Let's go where we won't be bothered," Hermione said, shushing her again. She led her to the common room and sat her down on a big, fluffy couch. She let her cry there for a minute or two before asking, "What's wrong, Ginny? All right?"  
  
"I-I'm all right," she managed between hiccoughs. "I h-had a-a bad dream."  
  
"A bad dream?" She was still holding Ginny, or rather, Ginny was holding on to her for dear life. "What happened? In the dream."  
  
Ginny was quiet for a long time, aside from her hiccoughs and an occasional sob. "I was dying," she said. "And... Oh, I tried running away, but it wouldn't stop, and I couldn't run..." Another sob. "H-He was killing me!"  
  
Hermione petted her hair, feeling strangely motherly. "Who was?" she asked.  
  
Ginny was suddenly very glad that Hermione couldn't see her expression right then. "I don't know."  
  
They were silent for a while. Then Hermione asked, "How about a hot chocolate? They're always good for making you feel better."  
  
Ginny nodded and finally pulled away far enough for Hermione to pull out her wand from nowhere and magic up two cups of hot chocolate. "Thank you," she said, taking one steaming mug.  
  
"Don't mention it."  
  
"No, I'm serious," Ginny insisted, taking a small sip. "Thank you for.. You know, everything." She smiled and blushed a little, although one wouldn't be able to tell with all the crying she'd just finished with.  
  
Hermione smiled back. She'd never really been friendly with any other girls. It'd always just been her and Harry and Ron, but at the moment it just seemed the natural thing to do. They sat sipping their cocoa and staring into the fireplace until they were both finished. Then, Hermione got up and asked, "Are you all right enough to go to bed?"  
  
Ginny nodded and got up, too. Hermione made sure that she went straight to bed, tucked in and all, before leaving. But instead of heading back to her own bed, she sneaked up to the boys' dormitories. She opened the sixth years' door without a sound and took a few steps inside. Harry lay sleeping peacefully (or at least looking like it) near Hedwig's cage, the owl also in deep slumber. Ron was sprawled out on his bed with one arm and one leg draping over the side and his mouth wide open. She pushed his limbs back on his bed and sat watching him.  
  
"Yes, I could go for another chocolate frog," he said, obviously dreaming.  
  
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Dream about food often, Ron?" she said, right in his ear.  
  
Ron shot up, speechless. When he found his voice, he whispered harshly, "What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Ginny had another nightmare."  
  
"Oh... Is she all right?"  
  
Hermione looked down. "I heard her scream, and when I ran in the room, I found her in a corner of the room crying. I calmed her down enough to get her back to sleep, though."  
  
"Did she say what-"  
  
"She was dreaming about? She said someone was trying to kill her, and she couldn't run away. It took forever for her to stop crying. It really frightened her."  
  
"Whoa," he said. "I wonder what it's all about."  
  
"I'm not sure." Hermione stood up again. "I'm going back to bed. It's late. Good-night, Ron."  
  
"Good-night." He waited until she was almost to the door. "Um, Hermione?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you always wear that kind of thing to bed?"  
  
Hermione looked down at herself. She hadn't minded being seen wearing such a short nightie in front of Ginny; they were both girls, after all. But something so low-cut and high-cut at the *same* time, in front of Ron... She crossed her arms to help cover herself better -not that Ron hadn't had an eyeful already- and said, "Yes. Why?"  
  
The corner of Ron's mouth twitched quite visibly. "Oh, just wondering."  
  
Hermione's mouth opened and closed twice. "Go back to sleep, Ron. I'm sure there are plenty of chocolate frogs left." She spun around to leave again, and Ron realized that if he tilted his head in a certain direction, he could just see... the closing door blocking his view. Ron threw himself on his bed in a huff and couldn't, for the life of him, fall asleep for a very long time. 


	2. Chapter 2

Nocturne: Chapter 2  
By: Emiko  
  
Disclaimer: Sou-yo! Please, please, don't sue me. Emiko's only having a bit of fun with Rowling-sama's characters... And stuff... Also, please don't mind a bit of OOC on Riddle and Malfoy's parts. I've done my best, and all that *really* stands out will be explained in due time. ^.^;;  
  
Pairings: Draco x Harry, Ron x Hermione, Tom Riddle x Ginny. Yes, people. This ficcie is *slashed.* BEWARE, people!! ^.~  
  
~~~  
  
It seemed that no one had enough sleep the next morning. Ginny was in mortal danger of nodding off into her porridge, Hermione had to keep giving her head a quick shake in order to focus on her book, and Harry kept himself propped up by leaning his cheek on his hand while eating his toast. Ron was tired, too, but had very different reasons for not sleeping than any of the others.  
  
Hermione made sure to wear a sweater under her robes that completely hid anything that gave way to imagination.  
  
Ginny headed out early for class, as was apparently her new habit, and Harry meandered off soon after. Hermione followed him.  
  
"Harry!" she called.  
  
Harry trudged to a halt. "Hmm?"  
  
"Are you all right?" Hermione inspected his face. He looked as pale as Ginny did last night, bags under eyes and all.  
  
Harry shook his head as if to wake himself up and said, "Yeah, just tired."  
  
She blinked at him, remembering how peaceful he looked when she snuck in the boys' dorm the night before, but didn't say anything. "All right," she said. "I'm going to class, so I'll see you later." They departed, going in opposite directions.  
  
Harry drudged his way to Potions until he was yanked to the side and into a dark side-hallway. He dropped his books somewhere along the lines and was immediately encircled by the arms of Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Good-morning," Malfoy said into his hair.  
  
"Mm. 'Morning." Harry replied sleepily, but nonetheless pleased by Draco's way of saying good-morning. He smiled contentedly and nuzzled in closer.  
  
"Hey, don't get too comfortable," Malfoy protested. "We have to get to class, and Crabbe and Goyle are probably looking for me."  
  
Harry didn't respond, but only leaned more heavily on his chest.  
  
Draco blinked and stepped back a few inches to get a better look at his lover's face, which jerked up in surprise when it didn't have anything to lean against. "Oh!" Harry said.  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
Harry looked ready to doze off again. "Yeah, just tired."  
  
"You've had no less sleep than I did."  
  
"Mm."  
  
Draco sighed and gave Harry a lingering kiss that had at least a very small affect on returning him to consciousness. "Wake up, already," he said. "At least enough not to walk into anything on your way to class."  
  
"Not even you?" Harry grinned the type of grin only people who've had less than two hours of sleep do.  
  
"Not until after Potions." Draco swiftly departed for class, and Harry dragged his feet after him.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry ended up knocking his cauldron all over of Leefgrew Potion all over the floor in the middle of Snape's instruction, giving the students the severe impression that the dungeon was in dire need of mowing. Snape took fifteen points from Gryffindor and angrily set off to conjure up a good weed-killer.  
  
It wasn't just Potions in which Harry nodded off in. In fact, the only place he *didn't* fall asleep at was Quidditch practice, for all the times he had to dodge odd objects pelted at him. At first it was only Bludgers, but it was rumored that it was a rival on the Slytherin team who sent a variety of objects into the air, the most common including self-swinging baseball bats and overgrown white rabbits... After much deliberation once it was all over, Harry decided the bunnies were definitely the worse of them all. Then he fell asleep again.  
  
Harry's incurable grogginess only grew worse as the week wore on. Finally Ron and Hermione dragged him to see Madam Pomfrey. She set him in a bed, but he was out like a light before she could even ask his symptoms. Hermione jumped up and gave the nurse her own analysis. "He's had no fever, but he's very pale and he's been acting quite drowsy. He seems to be sleeping well enough at night but he still seems very tired in the morning. Also, he's had a slight loss of apppet--"  
  
"Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said sharply. "I am quite capable of checking for symptoms myself, thank you." And with that, she shooed them out the door.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry was back in the Gryffindor common room within the hour, a mug of some sort of drink in his hand. He slumped down into a chair and took a swig of it.  
  
Hermione looked up from her book. "What's that?" she asked.  
  
"Energy drink," he replied. "Can't remember the name of it. It's not bad."  
  
"All she gave you was an energy drink?"  
  
"Yup." He took another swig. "She said there wasn't anything wrong with me, and I only needed some sleep. She gave me the energy drink, anyway."  
  
"Oh." She eyed him incredulously. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong, Harry?"  
  
Harry shook his head and headed for his room, leaving Hermione to her book and wondering since when Hogwarts had energy drinks in the first place. As soon as Harry walked out, Ginny walked in, perfectly timed.  
  
"Hi, Hermione." She curled up in a chair next to hers and pulled out a book of her own.  
  
"Hello."  
  
They didn't say anything else, going to their respective books and pretending to read. Finally, Ginny asked, "Is Harry sick?"  
  
"Madam Pomfrey doesn't think so," Hermione said.  
  
"He looks like something's the matter."  
  
"I know. I've been checking the library for what it could be." Hermione flashed the cover of her book- "Sleep Sicknesses with Simple Solutions."  
  
Ginny nodded and went quiet again. "Got any ideas of what it could be?" she eventually asked.  
  
Hermione thought for a fraction of a second. "It could possibly be a mixture of stress and fatigue, with all that Quidditch practice and studying and such. Other than that," she slammed her book shut and dropped it on her lap, "There's nothing he could really be *sick* with."  
  
"Oh." Ginny frowned and went to her dorm without another word. Hermione shrugged off the awkward exchange and headed off to the library.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry fell upon his bed and didn't move. He left the rest of his potion untouched; it didn't seem to work very well, anyway. Nothing seemed to work. Well, Malfoy's methods worked a *little*...  
  
Hedwig flew in the window and landed very near Harry's head. She nipped at his ear and hooted in annoyance when he finally decided to take notice of her.  
  
"'Lo, Hedwig." He pulled himself up and untied the letter from her leg as she stared at him expectantly. "I haven't any food for you; you'll have to go to the Owlry."  
  
She turned her head to the side and hooted again, not moving.  
  
Harry grinned and stroked Hedwig's back. "Hey, don't worry about me, I'm fine!" Then he turned to the letter, which was in the same handwriting and pale green stationary that made it obvious who it was from.  
  
"Potter,  
"Are you getting enough sleep? Maybe your Quidditch captain's working you too hard. Understandable, being as you have to keep up with *me* and all... If you promise to miss a few practices and get a little rest, I might consider going easier on you next game...  
"I'm joking.  
"Seriously, maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey. She'll probably be able to whip something up to get you feeling better. Or maybe I soul just keep you in your bed for a few nights - at great personal sacrifice, of course, but you really need some sleep. Go to bed. Stay in bed.  
"D."  
  
Harry scowled at the letter and hurriedly wrote his reply.  
  
"Malfoy,  
"Stop calling me Potter. I already saw Madam Pomfrey, and I feel much better. Meet me again in the library tonight. Neither of us are getting any sleep.  
"H."  
  
Harry tied his letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her off back to Malfoy. Then he fell back on his bed for a very long nap before meeting with him.  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny swept through the brush and dead trees of her dream world, searching for the memory that always haunted her sleep (AN: Good God, that sentence belongs in a romance novel -_-;;). "Tom? *Tom?!*"  
  
She spun around and he was there, clearer than she had ever seen him in her dreams.  
  
"Ginny," he said expectantly.  
  
She gathered her courage and shouted, "Why won't you leave me alone? Why are you after me?"  
  
Tom smirked. "I'm not after *you,* Ginny." He took a few steps toward her. Ginny took an equal amount of steps back.  
  
"You're after Harry, aren't you?" she demanded. Her hands shook despite her tone. "Leave him alone!"  
  
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he was hovering over her again. "Harry Potter?" Tom perused his lips. "He hurt you, didn't he? It breaks your heart every time you think of him with that boy. ...Why bother trying to protect him?"  
  
"He... I-I love him!"  
  
"Do you?"  
  
Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Ginny stared at the ground, blushing over the fact that she just openly admitted such a thing. But did she really love Harry? She couldn't reply.  
  
"He's done nothing but hurt you, Ginny. Nothing. He doesn't care about you..." For a moment, Ginny felt her knees weaken as he continued. "I'll protect you from him, and from Malfoy. I'll protect you from Harry Potter."  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny sat upright in her bed, stifling another loud cry before she remembered the Silence Charm she put on her curtains, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was just another dream. She really wasn't losing her strength again. At least, she didn't think so...  
  
She stood up and did a few small hops on her bed. Then she stretched and jumped harder. Yes, she felt fine. Then she reached for her wand, muttered "Lumos," and grabbed a mirror. She *looked* healthy enough, too. She remembered having a sickly pallor when she was under Tom Riddle's control, from her loss of energy.  
  
*Loss of energy!* Ginny slammed her mirror back in her drawer and rushed out of bed, only pausing to put on her slippers before running to the library.  
  
~~~  
  
The library wasn't as quiet as it would normally be at such an hour. As Ginny crept inside, she could hear noises coming from the back of the library, and the small light coming from the same area as last time suddenly went out with a crash.  
  
"Oh, shit..." That was Malfoy, all right. She started heading toward the sound of his voice reciting a repairing spell.  
  
"Don't worry about that," said Harry from assumably the same spot. "Just come here." A moment later- "Hey, wait."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Not *here!*"  
  
"...Why not?"  
  
"It's so unromantic."  
  
"You're the one who suggested the library."  
  
"Yeah, well, it was your idea originally..." There seemed to be no further argument.  
  
Ginny rounded the corner and found Harry lying atop a table. Malfoy was on top of him, kissing him and playing with the buttons on Harry's pajamas. Both were too preoccupied with each other to notice Ginny's presence.  
  
"Ahem," she said.  
  
"Harry fell off the table, and Malfoy jumped three feet in the air and yelped.  
  
"Jesus *Christ,* Ginny, what are you doing?!" Harry got up from behind the table, re-buttoning his pajama shirt and absolutely mortified.  
  
Malfoy was fuming. "What. The *hell* are you DOING here, Weasley?!?"  
  
"I-I'm sorry for bothering you and all, but it's really important!" She tried not to blush too hard and forget about her reason for interrupting. "Don't worry, no one knows you're... You're here."  
  
Malfoy relaxed a tiny fraction, but still had a voice for sarcasm. "Well, that's all very well and good, but what the hell do you want?"  
  
She ignored him and turned to Harry. "Harry, how are you feeling right now?"  
  
"I *was* feeling pretty good." he replied saucily. The sarcasm was apparently contagious.  
  
"Oh, please, just listen to me," she pleaded. "I know why you've been feeling so weak."  
  
That got both Harry and Draco's attention. "Why?" said Harry.  
  
"It's because of Tom Riddle."  
  
They both stared at her. Malfoy blanched, but very quickly regained his composure. "Tom Riddle. Tom *Riddle?* That's impossible."  
  
"He's gone, Ginny," Harry said after a moment. "His diary was destroyed, remember? He can't come back."  
  
"But it's the only thing that makes *sense!*" Ginny cried.  
  
Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "It's the only thing that doesn't. Riddle's diary is *dead,* Weasley."  
  
"Draco," started Harry.  
  
"It is!" Malfoy insisted through gritted teeth. "Do you know how many times my father tried to-" He stopped himself.  
  
Harry, understanding better than most people could, slipped his hand into Malfoy's and gave him a little smile. "It's all right," he said.  
  
Malfoy sighed and sat down in a chair, still holding on to Harry's hand. "He tried writing in it, to see if it would reply. He tried repairing it, but it still wouldn't work. That spell Riddle put on that damned book wore off. There's *no* way he can come back!"  
  
"He was in my dream," Ginny said more quietly.  
  
"Oh, your dream," he said sardonically. "I've heard about those dreams of yours. You've been having nightmares about Riddle for ages; I've heard girls complain about your screams waking them in the middle of the night when you forget to put a Silence Charm on your curtains." He saw the malignant stare Harry was giving him, and promptly shut his mouth.  
  
Ginny blushed furiously, but continued her argument. "Look, these dreams are different! They're all in an old forest with lots of dead trees, and then Tom appears and I start to feel weak. But then he says he's not after me and I'm back to feeling normal, but Tom gets clearer and clearer because he's drawing energy from someone else. He says that he knows about you and Malfoy, Harry." Tears started falling down her face, although she tried to hold them back. "The things he says... I really think he's after you, Harry!"  
  
Harry sat down now, too, paler than ever. Malfoy had a slight pallor as well, but his was from nerves.  
  
"Ginny," Harry said slowly, "How long have you been having these dreams?"  
  
"About a week," she replied between quiet whimpers. "Since the night before- the night before I found your letter."  
  
"You'd be better *not* to make a routine search or Harry's room, Weasley," Malfoy muttered under his breath. Harry ignored him, off somewhere in thought, so he said, "Harry, it can't happen."  
  
Harry's head shot up as if he was seconds away from dozing off. "What if the diary still works?"  
  
"It doesn't."  
  
Ginny sat on the floor, not bothering with a chair. "But what if it *does?*" she said uneasily.  
  
"It can't."  
  
"I'm sorry," she said after a short time. "I was just worried... I mean, it's awfully strange..."  
  
"Yes, well, I'm worried too, but you don't see me running around crying 'Tom Riddle!'" Malfoy retorted.  
  
"I just wanted to help!" she cried, and began to stomp away.  
  
"Ginny!" Harry called, and stood up. She spun abruptly, and he was taken aback by the vehement look on her face. "Sorry. And thanks."  
  
Ginny's features softened considerably, and she headed back to bed.  
  
As soon as she was gone, Harry turned on Malfoy. "Draco," he said, managing an expectant glare through his exhaustion.  
  
"What?"  
  
"She was only trying to help. You didn't have to be so harsh with her."  
  
"Yeah, and didn't you say that you were fine now?" Malfoy replied indignantly. "You look even whiter than you did earlier today."  
  
"It's the light," Harry said, brushing it off. "And don't change the subject!"  
  
Malfoy smirked. "And have I ever told you what enchanting green eyes you have?"  
  
"No. Malfoy. Don't start." Harry blushed despite himself. "You shouldn't be so snide to her." Malfoy rolled his eyes, and Harry raised an eyebrow. "She knows your secret, after all."  
  
That one got him. Malfoy slumped in his chair and didn't say anything more on the subject other than murmuring, "My secret..." He looked up at Harry.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Harry scratched his head in embarrassment. "I forgot... I wanted to apologize for badgering you over wanting to tell people about us. I mean, it'd be a lot to ask... Your father being a Death Eater and all..."  
  
"I'm a Death Eater, too, you know." He said, and sighed melancholically.  
  
Harry smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "I know. I don't care."  
  
"There's still plenty to worry about," Draco said as Harry wrapped his arms around him. "Besides my father. The Death Eaters..." Harry kissed his collarbone. "If they found out, what they'd do to me..." Then he kissed his neck. "And what they'd do to if they caught you..." Then he kissed his jawbone. "And you're not feeling well..." Then he hit him full-on the lips.  
  
"I feel fine," Harry whispered contentedly in-between kisses.  
  
Malfoy rolled his eyes and played with Harry's messy hair. "Liar."  
  
"But I do." Harry grinned.  
  
"Mm-hm." Malfoy let his thumb linger over Harry's scar before draping both arms over his shoulders and kissing him again.  
  
"Seriously, I'm fine!"  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
"What do I have to do to get you to believe me?"  
  
"Hm..." Malfoy thought about it for a second. "You said the library was unromantic."  
  
Harry blinked, not following. "Yeah..."  
  
"Where's your Invisibility Cloak?"  
  
"Oh! Er... Over here." Harry escaped Draco's grasp for a second to retrieve it.  
  
"Put it on." he said, and Harry obeyed, still at least partly clueless. Malfoy groped blindly for a second before he found his hand. "Now, come with me."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"My room. It's much more comfortable than here."  
  
"Oh!" A pause. "Wait, Draco, if we get caught..."  
  
"We won't." said Malfoy, smiling impishly. "You have your Invisibility Cloak, and besides, I got an idea from that Weasley girl. I'll put up a silence charm on my curtains."  
  
It was really too bad that Malfoy couldn't see the devilish grin Harry was giving him right then. "So," he said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What are you walking so slow for?"  
  
To anyone who didn't know better, it would've looked as if Malfoy was being pulled through the library by a string.  
  
~~~  
  
Harry had fallen asleep in Malfoy's bed, so he wasn't back in his room until almost five-thirty in the morning. As if being tired all the time wasn't enough, now he was all achy... Not that he was complaining.  
  
It was easy enough to get past the Fat Lady, being as she was fast asleep as he said the password. "Holly wreath." He had his cloak off and was almost to the boys' dorms when Hermione spotted him.  
  
"'Morning, Harry," she said, her voice thick from only recently waking up. She looked alert enough, though. She cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing up this early? ...Where'd you go?"  
  
"I... I was hungry, so I snuck down to the kitchens." he lied.  
  
"Oh. Okay."  
  
Harry frowned. "Why are *you* up so early?" he asked.  
  
"I get up this early every morning to take a shower." Hermione held up her "Sleep Sicknesses with Simple Solutions" book and said, "I forgot this in the common room last night, so I went to get it beforehand..." she stopped. "You were hungry?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"So you're feeling better?"  
  
"Well, I have an hour to sleep yet, so I'm pretty tired, but I guess so," he said, thinking about the events that occurred just a few hours ago. "Back hurts, think I slept wrong, but nothing too unusual..." Harry yawned. He was *really* tired.  
  
Hermione eyed him skeptically for a split second and then headed back to the girls' dorms, clutching her book very tightly for some reason. "Right, well, you get some sleep before school, Harry," she said.  
  
"Hey, Hermione..."  
  
She halted. "What?"  
  
"Do you always wear that kind of thing to bed?" Harry blinked innocently. "Because you know, if you tilt your head in one direction, you can just see-"  
  
"Good *night,* Harry," Hermione said firmly, flushed a deep red, and hurried back to her room. 


	3. Chapter 3

Nocturne: Chapter 3  
By: Emiko  
  
Disclaimer: Sou-yo! Please, please, don't sue me. Emiko's only having a bit of fun with Rowling-sama's characters... And stuff... Also, please don't mind a bit of OOC on Riddle and Malfoy's parts. I've done my best, and all that *really* stands out will be explained in due time. ^.^;;  
  
Pairings: Draco x Harry, Ron x Hermione, Tom Riddle x Ginny. Yes, people. This ficcie is *slashed.* BEWARE, people!! ^.~  
  
~~~~~  
  
Ginny went to bed the next night without any intention whatsoever of going to sleep. She knew she wouldn't be able to take another of those nightmares, and she already felt bad enough over bothering Harry about it. He was probably much more worried than he was before, and it was most likely over nothing. After all, it was just a dream.  
  
Still... She didn't want to dream about Tom again. Especially when she was beginning to treat him even slightly more humanely in her dreams. He didn't *deserve* to be treated humanely.  
  
So, she sat on her bed and busied herself with twisting her hair into tiny braids and then unbraiding them over and over again, until she eventually got bored and pulled out a book. She had a bit of studying to do, anyway. Transfiguration was probably the subject she was best at, but studying any other school subject would bore her to death and would probably knock her out even quicker. She opened up her "Advanced Guide to Transfiguration" up to a chapter on turning objects into birds and set out to fight off slumber.  
  
Try as she might, she soon went off into a deep sleep, and once again landed in the middle of her now-very-familiar dream.  
  
It was the same haunted-looking forest as always, but this time the trees were spaced further apart. Tonight she was obviously closer to the edge of the forest, so she started walking to where there were fewer trees. She tried to hurry, as if she was afraid Tom Riddle would find her first. And although the trees were fewer as she soldiered on, the weeds and brambles grew thicker than ever, and they clawed at her bare legs and feet. She could only just see the moon through the dark, cloudy sky, and a fog that was rolling in from nowhere made it seem like she wasn't moving at all.  
  
After what seemed like forever, she finally came across a rusted wrought-iron fence. The fog was so thick now that she had to lean over it to get a decent view. It looked to be a decrepit graveyard. Her curiosity once again overcoming her, Ginny climbed over the fence and wandered through the tombstones. The paths between the graves were riddled with weeds and overgrown grass, and the tombstones themselves were so caked with dirt and grime that most were impossible to read. She stopped at one at random and started to clean off the name, just to see who it was.  
  
"That was my grandmother."  
  
Ginny whirled around and saw Tom sitting atop one of the tombstones. She was too scared and surprised to say anything other than "Oh!"  
  
"She was a Muggle," Tom continued nonchalantly. "And a horrible person, as if *that* mattered. She wasn't nearly as bad as my father, though."  
  
"Why did you bring me here?" Ginny finally found her voice.  
  
"I didn't. You came to me on your own."  
  
"Don't make it sound like that!"  
  
"But you did. Ginny..." Tom approached her slowly. He went into his robes and pulled out a wand. "Don't leave my side again."  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny opened her eyes and shot up from her Transfiguration book. She could hear footsteps coming toward her. She grabbed her wand and ran into the common room, too afraid to look behind her to see whose footsteps were following her.  
  
She dove behind a sofa and tried to think of a few good spells to use in defense, but she couldn't think of any for the life of her. She just curled up there listening to the sound of the footsteps coming closer and closer...  
  
It was Tom! He was coming for her again!  
  
"Ginny?" Hermione's head peeked over the overstuffed couch. "What are you *doing?* Are you okay?"  
  
Ginny didn't speak, but melted into quiet sobs. Hermione hurried to her side and gently rubbed her back, murmuring words of comfort until Ginny was calm enough to talk again.  
  
"No, no, I'm all right... I was dreaming again, and I thought you were someone else, but I'm all right now..."  
  
Hermione frowned. "Ginny, maybe you ought to tell someone about these dreams. They could mean something important or-"  
  
"I can't do that!" Ginny protested. "They'd think I was mad! My dreams don't ever make any sense! What would be the use of telling someone?"  
  
"Maybe it would help to get rid of them. You can always go to Dumbledore."  
  
Ginny shook her head and sighed. "No, it's noting. ...Maybe I really am going mad."  
  
"'There is no madness without reason,'" Hermione quoted. "I can't remember who it was that said it, but it applies well enough to the situation anyway, even if it has a bit of a double-meaning. Listen, whatever these dreams are, you've been having them for a reason, and it could be important. You really ought to talk to Dumbledore."  
  
Ginny smiled and blew her nose. "I don't know... Maybe I will."  
  
"You should." Hermione stood, and pulled Ginny up after her. "Now, wee should get back to bed. There's class in the morning. *And* you need to talk to Dumbledore," she added, not letting it drop. She sent Ginny to bed, and once again went to wake Ron.  
  
She entered and saw him sprawled out on his bed as usual, but Harry was gone. "Ron!" she whispered harshly, rushing to his side and shaking his shoulder until he woke.  
  
"What the-!" Ron jumped at the sight of the desperate look on Hermione's face hovering over him. "Her-Hermione? Wassamatter?"  
  
"Ginny just had another really bad nightmare, and Harry's *gone!*"  
  
"Gone?" He sat up and stared blinkingly at Harry's bd. "Huh. So he is."  
  
"Don't you have any idea of where he could be?"  
  
"Well, no."  
  
Hermione groaned. "Great. Ginny's hallucinating, and no one knows where Harry's run off to."  
  
That, at least, woke Ron up. "Hallucinating?"  
  
"Mm-hmm. She thought I was Tom Riddle coming after her or something, when I was just going to the bathroom."  
  
The corner of Ron's mouth twitched again. "I don't know how *that* could happen."  
  
"Shut up, Ron."  
  
"Well, sorry, but with that getup of yours..."  
  
"And what's wrong with what I wear to bed?"  
  
Now both corners of his mouth jerked. "Oh, absolutely nothing!"  
  
"You pervert."  
  
"Pervert?!" The color of Ron's face matched his hair. "*You're* the one who waltzes in here practically naked-"  
  
"I am *not!*" she hissed. "I just thought you should know about Ginny! It's not like I came in here to *seduce* you-"  
  
At that moment, Harry walked in, seeing Hermione -and her nightgown, if you could call it that- sitting very close to a very red-faced Ron. The only thing he'd heard prior were the words "seduce you."  
  
"Sorry," he said. "Did I come at a bad time?" He dropped his Invisibility Cloak on the floor before either of the others could notice it.  
  
"And where have you been?" Hermione demanded, rather hotly despite how quiet she was trying to be.  
  
"Er, bathroom," he said. "Look, I don't want to interrupt or anything..."  
  
"Harry, I was not trying to seduce Ron!"  
  
"Oh. ...You weren't?" Harry looked her over again.  
  
"That's it. I'm wearing a potato sack to bed from now on," Hermione said cynically. Luckily, she didn't catch Ron's momentary look of disappointment. "I came here to tell you both that Ginny had another nightmare, and I think she's starting to hallucinate because of them."  
  
Harry went over and sat next to Hermione and Ron on the bed, thinking how fortunate it was that Neville and Seamus slept like rocks. Hermione told them both about what had happened earlier with Ginny, lingering especially on how she had woken up still dreaming that Riddle was after her.  
  
"I'm really worried about her," she said finally.  
  
"What do you think we should do?" Ron asked.  
  
"I already told her she should talk to Dumbledore about her dreams, but I don't think she will. We ought to talk to him ourselves."  
  
"I'd ask Sirius, but he'd probably say the same thing," Harry said.  
  
Hermione's eyes lit up. "Write to him, anyway! He might be able to help."  
  
Ron sighed. "If Fred and George knew I went and let our sister go off the deep end on us, they'd kill me."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Fred and George? What about your mother?"  
  
"I don't even want to *think* about that right now."  
  
Hermione got up. "I'm going to bed. You two should, too; there isn't too much time before we have to get up for school." Harry stood to get into his own bed, and Hermione whispered so quietly that Ron wouldn't be able to hear, "You shouldn't leave your Invisibility Cloak on the floor like that. It'll get ruined." She left without another word. The boys went to bed, Harry thoroughly rattled.  
  
~~~  
  
Breakfast the next morning did not bode well, to say the least. Hermione was nothing but cold towards Harry, and it seemed to put everyone around her in a bad mood, as well.  
  
Harry tried to go and get to class early, but Hermione excused herself right after he did, followed him out the Great Hall doors, spun him around and pinned him against a nearby wall.  
  
"All right, Harry," she said slowly, a menacing gleam in her eyes. "You're going to tell me where you've been sneaking off to all this time." Harry didn't do anything but try to look innocent, so she continued. "You're going to tell me, or you'll be turned into a fresh pair of socks for *Dobby.*"  
  
The prospect of this frightened Harry considerably more than he let on, but he still held back. "I told you yesterday I was only going to the bathroom..."  
  
"With your Invisibility Cloak?! And the day before you said you went to get something to eat when I've *seen* you do nothing but pick at your food at mealtime. You're *sick,* Harry! What's so important that you're not getting any sleep over?"  
  
"It's none of your business!" Harry said bitingly.  
  
"Fine, then! I won't ask you about it anymore!" Hermione turned and stomped off to class.  
  
"Fine!" he shouted after her, but he doubted she heard him. The masses of students were beginning to pour out of the Great Hall, and he quickly lost sight of Hermione's bushy hair in the crowd.  
  
~~~  
  
The end result of Harry's encounter with Hermione was five days of his best friend ignoring him. Hermione didn't say a word to Harry, and Harry, still being slightly miffed as well, didn't bother to say anything to Hermione. Ron wouldn't have known what to do if Harry had been awake during the time he was fighting with her, but because of it he ended up spending all of his time with Hermione.  
  
The whole week, Harry didn't sneak out. He was more afraid than ever of being caught now that Ron was probably on the lookout as well. He wrote a letter to Malfoy to explain his actions, but he didn't exactly get a positive reply.  
  
"Potter,  
"If that friend of yours is so important to you (not that I understand why), do what I would do in a similar situation: *lie.*  
"And if you're being watched, there's nothing to do but meet less often, and more discreetly. We should take a small break from each other. In the meantime, get some rest. You need it.  
"D."  
  
Harry, as a result, spent the week alone in his bed.  
  
~~~  
  
By the morning of the sixth day, Ron couldn't take the tension anymore. He slammed his fork and knife on the table in the middle of his biscuits and gravy and shouted his protest to the situation as eloquently as ever: "It's dumb of you two to fight!"  
  
(AN: Yay, sarcasm.)  
  
Hermione only sniffed and returned to her own breakfast. "Don't scold *me* for worrying about an idiot friend of mine. Talk to him." She thumbed toward the black-haired boy sitting across from Ron.  
  
Harry stood up before either of them could anything more. "Look," he said. "I'm sorry I can't tell you what's going on right now, because I don't understand half of it myself. The half I *do* understand, though, has to be kept secret for just a little longer. I really wish I could tell you guys, but I can't. All I can do is promise to tell you everything the moment I have a chance to. But until then, please don't question me about it."  
  
"But Harry-" Hermione started, but Harry just shook his head and left the Great Hall. Once again, she followed.  
  
"Harry!" she called again, but he kept walking. She rushed up to him and hugged him from behind. "Please just listen to me."  
  
"Hermione, don't," Harry said.  
  
She couldn't see his face from how she was holding him, but she felt his body stiffen when she grabbed him, so she loosened her arms a little. "I'm not going to ask where you've been going all this time!" she said. "I'm just so worried, Harry; you're my best friend. You're always so pale, and you hardly eat anything anymore, and you sleep all the time, and you don't act like yourself, and... and... you won't tell me what's going on, so if *course* I worry..."  
  
"Hermione," He heard a sniffle coming from just behind his shoulder blade, and that stopped him. He spun himself around. Oh, don't cry!  
  
Hermione fell into him and pounded his shoulder with her fist. "*God, you're so stupid!" she sobbed.  
  
Harry patted her on the back a little, not knowing what else to do and said, "Come on, everyone's leaving for class." He led her down an empty hallway.  
  
"It's Herbology first today," Hermione pointed out after she calmed down enough. "This isn't the right way."  
  
"I know. But do you really want to go to class looking like *that?*"  
  
"Oh." Hermione wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak and sat down next to a statue of some ancient wizard. Harry sat down next to her.  
  
"Sorry," he said after a while.  
  
"It's okay." Nothing more was said until Hermione was finished drying her tears. "I guess there are some things we never do end up talking about."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Hermione looked him straight in the eyes. "Love, for one."  
  
Harry turned bright pink. "L-love?"  
  
"Yeah. Love." She took her gaze off him and directed at a painting of two people sitting and chatting by a pond. "It's a little unfair, so I really can't ask you anything."  
  
"Oh, because you've never told me about Ron?"  
  
Now it was Hermione who turned pink. "What about Ron?"  
  
"You *like* Ron."  
  
"I do not like Ron!"  
  
"You like Ron. You're just too scared to do anything about it, and he's too thickheaded to notice."  
  
"Look, I don't like Ron, and we're going to be late for class-"  
  
"Sit *down,* Hermione," Harry said before the girl had a chance to move. "You wanted to talk, didn't you? Well, now we're talking. This whole conversation is going to be a secret from Ron, anyway. I won't tell if you won't."  
  
"Harry..." she threatened.  
  
"Well, it's just that you go out of your way to *not* be obvious, which makes it obvious."  
  
"Oh, you don't get it." Hermione frowned, turning an even deeper shade of red, and stared hard at him. "We're off-subject! What about *you?*"  
  
"Why, what about me?"  
  
"That's the reason why you've been sneaking out, right? You're leaving for secret late-night meetings with someone."  
  
"..." The whole conversation was making Harry suddenly bashful.  
  
Hermione smirked. "I'm right, aren't I?"  
  
"You, you said you wouldn't ask me about it."  
  
"Harry, if you're so worried about people finding out, I swear to you I won't tell. No matter who it is. I just want to know *who.*"   
  
"I never said I was seeing anyone."  
  
"But you didn't deny it, either."  
  
"I'm not seeing anyone!"  
  
"You're seeing someone, I can tell. You're just too embarrassed to say anything about it, and she hasn't stepped forward with any information, whoever she is. Now, who is it?"  
  
"...I'm not saying anything."  
  
"Harry, that's unfair."  
  
"Look, I can't tell you! It's a secret."  
  
"So you *are* meeting someone in the middle of the night. Who is she?"  
  
"I can't tell you who."  
  
Hermione eyed him incredulously. "It *is* a she, isn't it?"  
  
"No. It is not a she."  
  
"Then it's a he?"  
  
"I'm not saying anything."  
  
"Harry, you're gay?"  
  
"I-I'm...!" Harry was too flustered to finish his sentence.  
  
"It's all right, dear. I'm not going to tell anyone anything if you won't, remember?"  
  
"But-"  
  
"Now, tell me, Harry."  
  
Harry pronounced the words slowly. "I. Can't."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's a secret, how many times do I have to tell you?! ...Besides, you'd kill me."  
  
"No, I wouldn't. It's not like you're routinely having a snog-fest with Professor *Snape* or anything..."  
  
Close enough, Harry thought. "No, it's not *Snape.*"  
  
"Then who?"  
  
"You'll kill me."  
  
"No, I won't."  
  
"Do you swear?"  
  
"I swear. And I won't tell anyone, either."  
  
"Not even Ron?"  
  
"No, not even Ron."  
  
"All right," Harry took a deep breath and braced himself. "...Malfoy."  
  
Hermione's jaw dropped, and for the longest time, she couldn't find her voice. "...M-Malfoy? *Draco* Malfoy?"  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Harry," she said. "If I didn't already say that I wouldn't kill you, I would kill you."  
  
"Don't tell Ron."  
  
"Tell Ron?! He'd kill you. Of course you couldn't tell him! Honestly, Harry, what do you *see* in him?"  
  
He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "He's not as bad as you think."  
  
"Right. He's only been horrible to everyone since we've met him, not to mention he's a *Death Eater*..." She smiled sadly and leaned against his arm. "Only you would be able to see any good in him, I guess."  
  
"Hermione."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're missing class."  
  
It was like the thought never occurred to her. "Oh, no!" Hermione immediately rushed off in the direction they came, but then halted and turned to Harry. "By the way, I meant it when I said I didn't like Ron." Then she hurried off, leaving Harry to wonder what in blazes she meant by that. 


	4. Chapter 4

Nocturne: Chapter 4  
By: Emiko  
  
Disclaimer: Sou-yo! Please, please, don't sue me. Emiko's only having a bit of fun with Rowling-sama's characters... And stuff... Also, please don't mind a bit of OOC on Riddle and Malfoy's parts. I've done my best, and all that *really* stands out will be explained in due time. ^.^;;  
  
Also, I must give credit to the wonderful Rave for writing the song, "I May Be a Tiny Chimneysweep, But I've Got an Enormous Broom," and my best friend Mihoshi whose quote I have stolen: "No sex in the pillow room!" You shall all understand soon enough. The chimneysweep song and its utter ingeniusness can be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParadigmOfUncertainty/files/Song%20Lyrics/chimneysweep.txt  
  
Pairings: Draco x Harry, Ron x Hermione, Tom Riddle x Ginny. Yes, people. This ficcie is *slashed.* BEWARE, people!! ^.~ I'm seriously considering twisting things up even more, though, so watch out!  
  
~~~~~  
  
Malfoy made use of his time apart from Harry over the past week in the library, doing exactly what Hermione had already done- try to find a cure for whatever the hell Harry was sick with. It turned out that he was finding just as much as she did, as well, and getting no help from the library only made him that much more frustrated over it all. He even snuck into the restricted section, and couldn't find anything very useful. In the end he just took two or three books without bothering to check them out and toted them away to his room, where he wrote a very long letter to Harry which included a checklist of possible symptoms. He got an angry letter back telling to basically sod off; that Harry was perfectly fine.  
  
As if the fact that Harry continuously gave the impression of being seconds from passing out was something he could just shove off.  
  
It annoyed Malfoy to no end that Harry was acting like this, and he made sure to tell him exactly that in his letters. And Harry kept insisting that there wasn't anything wrong with him and to please drop the subject, but Malfoy was insistent on playing the part of the Worried Lover.  
  
"There's no need to play the part of the Worried Lover if there isn't anything to worry about," Harry had said in one of his notes.  
  
To which Malfoy replied: "If there's nothing wrong with you, and I can't play the Worried Lover, I'm going to force you to cooperate in a game of Doctor. Meet me tonight in Snape's classroom, for a change of pace."  
  
When Malfoy came in Snape's classroom that night, he found Harry sitting in his usual seat, fast asleep. He was wearing the pajama shirt he borrowed from Malfoy when he visited his room- black satin, with the Malfoy family emblem on its breast pocket. He came early, Malfoy thought. If he weren't snoozing atop a desk, I'd say he was a tad eager. He tiptoed up to the other boy and kissed his cheek lightly. Harry jumped up in surprise.  
  
"Wha-? Wassamatter?" Then he woke up. "Oh. You're late."  
  
"You're early."  
  
"Mm."  
  
"What did you do, fall asleep in the middle of Potions class and forget to get up?"  
  
"Snape would've turned me into a toad by now if I did any more than usual."  
  
Without another word, Draco hopped onto the desk Harry once occupied, sitting closely in front of him so that Harry was sitting directly between his legs. "Now, open your mouth and say 'Ah.'"  
  
Harry looked mortified. "*No!*"  
  
"If you and I were in a different situation, I would be sincerely hurt." Before Harry had the time to ask, in his misguided perversion, how the situation *could* be any different with his face between Draco's legs in an empty classroom, Draco pulled out his wand and said, "Lumos. Now, open up."  
  
Harry's jaw dropped; he realized Draco's true intentions. Draco took this opportunity to examine the inside of his mouth, and when he was finished, he said, "You weren't kidding about playing doctor!!"  
  
"You thought I was joking?" Draco now took out a thermometer and plunged it in Harry's mouth. "Don't talk. It'll mess up."  
  
Harry glowered until the thermometer was removed. Draco blinked innocently, as if to say, "Oh, have I done something wrong?" Then he looked at the thermometer.  
  
"I've had enough of people examining me and constantly asking if I'm all right!" he growled.  
  
"Unbutton my shirt."  
  
"No. Besides, I've already claimed it. It's mine now."  
  
"Fine, then I'll do it." Draco proceeded to take off Harry's borrowed pajama top as Harry fought against him. "God, you're pale," he said when he was finished.  
  
"You take off my shirt and all you have to say is 'God, you're pale'?"  
  
"I'll comment on your 'awesome body' later, Stick Boy," he said lovingly, and pulled out a stethoscope as Harry momentarily wondered where he was keeping all that stuff. "Inhale. It's true, though. You never used to be so pale."  
  
"I said before that it was the light."  
  
"Inhale again. I've seen you in broad daylight and you're just as pasty. You've gotten thinner, too. You're starting to look like a vampire or something." It was true. Harry's skin was so white it looked nearly luminescent, and made his black hair, green eyes, and pink lips stand out even more than ever. Although he did nothing but sleep nowadays in his free time, his face was drawn and tired and there were bags beneath his eyes. Even the scar on his forehead showed up more clearly against his pallor, which raised another question from Draco. "By any chance, does your scar hurt?"  
  
"*No,* it doesn't, and you're not listening to me."  
  
"Yes, I am. You're in denial that there is something seriously wrong with you."  
  
"THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!" Harry shouted.  
  
A door slammed open. Harry and Draco dove beneath a desk and pulled the Invisibility Cloak over themselves with amazing speed as Professor Snape appeared from his office in a black bathrobe.  
  
"Who's there?" he demanded. Snape stepped from his office and swept between his desks, looking underneath each desk as he passed. Satisfied, he turned to leave, and tripped over Harry's fallen pajama top. He wasn't able to see the black fabric in the dark.  
  
After he peeled his face off the floor, Snape picked up the shirt, and made a little sound of disgust. "*No,*" he said. Upon further examination of the shirt, he noticed the design on the breast pocket: the Malfoy family crest. Snape's ears turned visibly pink in the dimness. Then, he folded the pajama top, tucked it under his arm, and searched the room once more before returning to his office.  
  
~~~  
  
"Oh, the chimneys were dirty at Mrs. McFry's, and I'll grant they were worse at Molly O'Clue's. But the chimneysweep said, with a glint in his eye..."  
  
At first, it had been some of her favorite songs by the Weird Sisters. When Ginny ran out of those, she turned to songs she sung when she was a little girl. Not being able to remember many of those, she resorted to tavern-music.  
  
"'...I've got a great tool here for cleaning the fluuuuuues...!'" It was nearly two o'clock in the morning, and once again, Ginny was keeping herself from sleep.  
  
She shuddered to think of what certain people would think of her singing a song reserved at bars and bachelor parties. She was unbelievably glad she was so good at Silence Charms. A hoarse, half-asleep Ginny Weasley was a far cry from even a group of off-key drunks, at least in her opinion.  
  
"Oh, a chimneysweep's job can be boring and dirty; a chimneysweep ain't got the best lot in life," she soldiered on. "But who else could manage, without getting flirty, to clean out the smokestack on the mayor's young wife?" The chorus came next, and after that, she found herself in what she was beginning to call Riddle's Woods. She stopped singing in surprise- she fell asleep in the middle of the third verse!  
  
Ginny huffed, clenched her fists, and sang louder than ever, determined to be brave in front of Tom Riddle, even if he wasn't there in front of her just yet. "'For he might ha' been a tiny chimney sweep, with a tiny, grimy face! But he carried a broom that near made me weep--'"  
  
"'So I let him up, up, up me fi-replace,'" came a soft voice from behind her. Ginny yelled. Tom smiled thinly. "Do people really still sing that song?"  
  
"I learned it from my brother, Bill."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Why are you in my dreams?"  
  
"You haven't realized it already?" Tom approached her. "I am in your dreams because you cannot forget about me. You cannot let go of my memory yourself, no matter how hard you try, and so, I remain. I'll never be able to leave you."  
  
Ginny's hands began to shake, so she clenched her fists harder. "Stop haunting me."  
  
"I may be able to stop haunting you, but I'll never be able to leave completely. Don't you understand? Ever since you wrote your first words in my diary, you and I have been linked. Inseparable. I don't think I could get away from you if I tried."  
  
"Then maybe you should try harder," Ginny snapped.  
  
Suddenly, the tree she was leaning against disappeared, along with the rest of the ghostly forest. It was replaced by the familiarity of her bedroom at home at the Burrow. It didn't make her feel any less afraid, or any less livid.  
  
Tom ignored her glare of death and let his eyes wander about the room. "This is where you live, isn't it? You're so lucky, and you don't even realize it."  
  
"*Lucky?* You nearly kill me, torment me, mess with my mind, make it so that I can't sleep at night, and then... *Look* at me like that and tell me I'm lucky?" If Ginny hadn't been so terrified, she would've slapped him. Be like Harry, she kept repeating to herself. Be brave. Be like Harry.  
  
(If only Harry knew how much of a role model he is ^.^)  
  
"You don't have any idea of what it's like!" Tom shouted, and the dainty picture frames on Ginny's walls shook. His calm, suave demeanor vanished, and with it the barriers that hid just how fearsome and malevolent Tom could be when he wanted to be. "You can't possibly understand what it was like for me, with my filthy, unloving, mud-blood parents! My father, the same one I'm named after, *abandoned* me. I've never had anyone but myself! But you, Ginny? You've always been surrounded by people who love you and care about you. You'd never understand what it's like to be alone."  
  
In that moment, Ginny felt immensely sorry for him, even as he regarded her with such bitter coldness in his stare. After all, he had such a lonely and unloving past.  
  
"Do you hate me for it?" she asked. "For having such a big family?"  
  
Tom seemed to think about it. "No."  
  
"Is that the reason why you can't leave?"  
  
"No, we are bound by the diary, and only that; even though the spell's broken, the bond between us still remains."  
  
Ginny, suddenly feeling very comfortable being in her own bedroom with Tom Riddle, turned and sat on her bed. An awkward silence followed, in which Tom flipped through some old diaries on her desk. Then she suddenly said, "Tom, don't haunt me anymore."  
  
He replied with a look that told her he either didn't catch her meaning, or was slightly annoyed that she seemed to miss the point of their conversation entirely.  
  
"No more nightmares, no more misunderstood hauntings. We can be friends." She smiled at him.  
  
Tom was too surprised to say anything, so he only gave her a tiny smile of his own.  
  
~~~  
  
Ginny slept considerably better from then on. Tom appeared in her dreams just as often as before, but she wasn't frightened. He took her to visit various places in the wizarding world as she dreamed, mostly ancient castled once ruled by old, powerful witches and wizards, and he told her all about the former rulers of old and their failed attempts at world domination.  
  
She also discovered Tom's taste for al tings black. Ginny found herself in her dreams, on more than one occasion, with the red and gold trimmings of her dorm room all turned to black, with silver stars and snakes here and there. Once, he even dared to dress her in a Victorian-looking black beaded gown that was startlingly low-cut. She yelled at him for it -something she would never have dared to do weeks earlier- and he never did it again.  
  
Although she really did like the dress.  
  
Harry, however, seemed just as drained as before. Seeing him immediately tore her from her good mood. It worried her that while she was free from whatever torment there once was in her dreams, Harry was still pale, sickly, and not himself. If Tom noticed at all her worry, he didn't do anything about it. He went on appearing and disappearing at whim in her subconscious, and Ginny could do nothing about it.  
  
~~~  
  
Potions class was dismissed, and Draco gathered his things to leave. Snape stopped him. "I need a word with you, Mr. Malfoy. It won't take long."  
  
Draco paled and silently got to his feet. He followed him into his office, and tried to keep himself from sweating. Snape sat behind his desk and motioned for Draco to do so as well. Snape pulled from his desk drawer the black satin pajama shirt of Draco's which Harry had been wearing the night before.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," Snape said smoothly, pointing to the Malfoy family insignia on the shirt. "Do you know what this is?"  
  
"A crest, sir?" Malfoy hazarded.  
  
"It's your *family* crest, which I can clearly recognize from... past relations with your family, on a object that clearly appears to be a pajama shirt. I found this in my classroom last night."  
  
"I see. Well, come to think of it, it does look quite familiar. The crest, I mean. Don't know why I didn't recognize it before. It's a Monday."  
  
"It's a Thursday."  
  
"Well, it feels like a Monday."  
  
"Would you happen to know how this ended up in my classroom in the middle of the night?"  
  
"No, Professor-" Draco stopped himself and tried to look innocent. "What... Are you suggesting?"  
  
"I'm suggesting that someone went into my classroom last night with an obviously slept-in pajama top with your family emblem on it -and your name sewn on the inside tag- and left it on the floor."  
  
"I don't know how that could've happened, sir-"  
  
"Mr. Malfoy." Snape cut him off. "It is more than obvious what went on in my classroom last night. This is a warning. Do not have sex in my classroom again, or the next time catch you, I will be forced to give you a detention. Find some other place to have your late-night rendezvous."  
  
Draco only gaped at him.  
  
"You may go to your next class now, Mr. Malfoy. And take your shirt."  
  
He picked it up without comment and left.  
  
~~~  
  
"Harry,  
"Remember that shirt of mine you wore the other night, that Snape took into his office? Well, he gave it back to me. Bugger nearly scared me to death when he did it, too. Lucky he likes me; he only gave me a warning to please not have sex in his classroom anymore so kindly find somewhere else to do it.  
"I didn't bother to say that we weren't really having sex, we were playing Doctor, but that might've made him angry.  
"He didn't actually *see* us, though, so that, at least, is a good thing. We'll just have to find some other room to play doctor in. How about just back to the library?  
"D."  
  
"Draco,  
"Sex? Yes. Doctor? No.  
"Sorry about the Snape thing. I was in more of a hurry to hide than remember where it fell. Glad you didn't get detention! the dungeons are a little cold, anyway.  
"How about the Divination classroom? There are lots of pillows in there. Nice, comfy pillows.  
"H."  
  
~~~  
  
Harry eventually got used to being able to tell Hermione things about his relationship with Draco. Actually, they were more forced out of him than anything, but after a few hours' badgering, he acquiesced to showing her all the letters Draco sent hi. Hermione giggled endlessly over them. Most of the development between Harry and Draco happened in their letters to each other, so all Harry really had to do was fill in the missing pieces where he had written to Draco and therefore had no documentation. Hermione loved every minute of it, and often interrupted him with bursts of giggles and an occasional hug to tell him how cute the story was.  
  
After she read every letter and heard all of Harry's stories she pumped out of him, she sat leaning against him and asked, just to make sure, "Is there anything else?"  
  
"No! Nothing that you would want to know the details of."  
  
"I see." Hermione flipped through the letters again and picked out a few she claimed as her favorites to read again.  
  
Harry gave her a sideways glance. "Hermione."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"You still haven't told me who you like yet."  
  
"I don't intend to."  
  
"That's not fair!"  
  
"I know. But it's a secret."  
  
"So is me and Malfoy."  
  
"But it's just as complicated! If anyone found out, then *he* would find out, and... feelings would be hurt."  
  
Harry frowned. "Hermione, if anyone ever hurt you, I'd make them regret it." He meant it, too. Hermione latched on to his arm. "I won't bother you about it anymore."  
  
Hermione hid her face in his shoulder and whispered, "Harry, I-"  
  
Ron burst into the room and threw his overstuffed backpack on his bed. "Hey, I finally found the book I needed... Hermione, what are you doing in here?"  
  
She jumped and started to gather the stacks of parchment scattered around her. "I was just working on some homework with Harry."  
  
"She was teaching me the finer points of Arithmancy, that's what she was doing. I wish I never asked!" Harry fell backward on his bed and covered with his face with one arm theatrically.  
  
"You are indeed a fool," Ron said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.  
  
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded. Without waiting for an answer, she bopped them both on the head with the stack of parchment, and sauntered off with Harry's collection of love letters.  
  
Ron watched her go. "So... She's not mad at you anymore."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"That's good."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So you made up?"  
  
"Mm-hm."  
  
"You have a house elf and a broomstick dancing the Lambada on your bed."  
  
"Mm-hm."  
  
Ron scowled. Harry fell asleep again. He smacked his head with a pillow and hollered, "Wake up!"  
  
Harry jolted upright and cried in a voice that mimicked Professor Trelawney, "No sex in the Pillow Room!"  
  
"Right. *Now* you're scaring me, Harry. Like it's not bad enough that you're never fully conscious anymore, you jump awake and start shouting about sex and a pillow room?"  
  
"It was a weird dream, all right?" Harry protested. His face turned an interesting shade of scarlet.  
  
"I'm sure." Harry buried his face in Ron's pillow. Ron snatched it away from him. "Don't do that to my pillow!! Who knows what you're doing to it!"  
  
So, Harry took his own pillow and hit Ron with it. "Take that!"  
  
"Ack! Not *your* pillow! That's even worse!" he laughed. "Oof! Help! Dirty pillow!"  
  
~~~  
  
Hermione remained in her room until dinner with Harry's letters. She went through each one more than once and sorted them all by date. Then she folded and stacked them all neatly. Afterwards, she really didn't know what to do with them, so she spent a short amount of time just staring at them.  
  
Then she got an idea. Not exactly the best ever, but it was better than nothing. She pulled out a spare piece of parchment and her quill. "If it worked for Malfoy..." she whispered to herself, and began to write.  
  
Moments later, she tore the written portion off and started again. Within minutes, Hermione had a miniature mountain of macerated manuscript on her bed next to the letters.  
  
She threw up her hands in anguish. "I give up!" she cried, and headed for the Great Hall for something to eat.  
  
~~~  
  
The dinner table, Ron noticed, was even farther from normal than it had been in the past few weeks. Harry looked ready to fall into his plate, which was, taking into account how he was acting lately, familiar enough, but still not what it should be. Hermione looked torn between happiness and despair. Ginny, at least, looked back to her usual cheery self, but she still wasn't ogling at Harry. The dreamy stare she reserved for him was focused on the windows outside, which, after Ron himself stared out for a few minutes, was even more nerve-wracking than the apparent problems of his friends, being her older brother and all.  
  
He scooted in next to her. "What are you staring at?"  
  
"I'm just looking out the window."  
  
Ron's expression was dubious. "What are you thinking about?"  
  
Ginny's lips curled into a sly smile. "A boy."  
  
"You're kidding," he gasped, his big-brother instincts going berserk.  
  
Ginny only cackled and went back to her dinner. Ron was so flustered, he ignored the rest of the universe -including his food- until Ginny left the table. He waited a few minutes, then followed her.  
  
It was impossible to see what logic there was in spying o Ginny; nothing short of intuition kept Ron hot on her trail. He followed her through the portrait of the Fat Lady ("Holly wreath!") and watched her head down to her dorm room. Ordinary as it was, he continued after her and spied through a crack in her door just wide enough to look through.  
  
He heard her gasp. "What are you doing here?"  
  
There was a boy in the room with her.  
  
He was tall and handsome, with black hair, a Slytherin insignia on his robes, and a devilish smirk on his face, which made Ron dislike him on sight. And then there was how surprised-but-happy Ginny seemed upon seeing him, which made Ron downright hate the guy.  
  
"Really," the boy said. "I thought you'd be more pleased to see me somewhere other than in your dreams." The boy sat and crossed his legs over a bed (*Ginny's* bed, Ron realized) and pretended to pout. He wasn't very good at it; he looked more indignant than anything.  
  
"I-I just don't understand."  
  
"I came to see you, Ginny."  
  
"Yes, well, I can see that. But how? I'm not asleep." Ron spotted Ginny pinching the side of her leg as she said so. Things were making less and less sense by the minute.  
  
"I'm strong enough now that I can appear in the conscious realm."  
  
Ginny stepped forward, looking him over. "But how could *that* happen?"  
  
The boy put his hand on Ginny's cheek. "It's because you're happy. I want to make you happy."  
  
Ron fumed. That... *Boy*... Dared to...! *His* sister!  
  
"Tom..." Ginny looked ready to melt. She placed her hand over his. "Your hands are so cold!"  
  
*His* sister! HIS SISTER! HIS *SIS*-- Tom? It couldn't be. That would mean that all this time, she really hadn't been dreaming, and if so...  
  
Their exchange continued without anyone discovering Ron.  
  
"It's because I'm not at my full strength yet," Tom said. "In a little bit, I'll be back to normal-"  
  
"GINNY!" Ro burst through the door and aimed his wand at the other boy. "You!! You-you're Tom Riddle, aren't you? GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"  
  
"Ron, relax," Ginny approached him like she was trying to calm a frightened horse. "It's all right, this sis just my friend-"  
  
"Like hell, he is! I heard you two talking! Ginny, just what do you think you're *doing?* What the hell is he doing here?! And why the hell do you *trust* him?!?"  
  
"Ginny, use a Memory Charm!" Tom said. "I can't use magic yet!"  
  
Before Ron could stop her, Ginny pulled her wand on him and shouted, "Obliviate!"  
  
He fell to the ground in a heap. Tom hurried over and gathered Ron up in his arms while Ginny was caught between disbelief in what she had just done and marveling at Tom's strength.  
  
"Quickly!" Tom hissed. "Where should we put him?"  
  
She blinked. "Uh... Probably in his bed."  
  
"*Which way?!*"  
  
"Oh! Right!" Ginny led him up into the boys' dormitories, dumped Ron in his bed, and rushed back to her room. They sat next to each other for a little bit without talking, until Tom made an observation.  
  
"You look troubled."  
  
"It's just..." she frowned. "This whole thing. It's hard to believe."  
  
Tom reached for her hand. "I understand. You really have no reason to trust me. And I'm sorry about your brother, but it couldn't be helped. No one can know about me just yet."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's obvious!" he laughed his high-pitched laugh. "What if your parents found out? Or the Headmaster? You'd be sent to a magical home for the mentally unstable!"  
  
Ginny sniffed, but did not remove her hand from his grasp. "What are you going to do, you know, when you get your strength back?  
  
"First, I'll make you mine," he said, grinning impishly again.  
  
Ginny looked at him and turned scarlet.  
  
"What? I'm not joking."  
  
She still couldn't say anything. She wasn't used to any kind of flirting or just boys in general, let alone a boy being so straightforward.  
  
Instead of waiting for an answer, he disappeared as quickly as he came, his lips lightly touching her cheek before he left as a couple of girls burst through the door to retrieve their homework for the day. Ginny closed the curtains on her bed, charmed them, and for the first time in a while, tried to sleep. 


End file.
